How to Choose the Best Makeup for You

The absolute most important thing about choosing makeup is finding the right kind and color for your skin tone. From eyeshadow to lipstick to foundation, the colors you choose should accent your natural coloring. These simple tips will help you to choose the right makeup for a professional looking application.

You will need:

• Lighted mirror


• Tissues


• Makeup sponges and brushes


• Makeup samples


• Soap or makeup remover


• Water

• Use a lighted mirror to take a good look at your skin and figure out what type of skin you have and its condition. Identify any ongoing skin conditions, such as acne or rosacea, as well as scars and wrinkles. A few pimples do not affect the type and color foundation you purchase, while having ongoing skin problems does.


• Choose the right foundation for your skin. Sheer liquid foundation works best for uneven, splotchy or hard to match skin because it blends easily. For dull-skin that shows signs of aging, a foundation with extra moisturizer works best. Oil-free foundation and foundations that that do not clog pores are the best for oily skin. Mineral makeup also works well with oily skin, as do makeups that go on smooth but dry like powder. For dry skin, use makeup that indicates that it hydrates, including lightweight liquids, whipped creams and mousses.


• Identify whether your skin tone is warm or cool. Cool tones look better with white, black and metallics, while warm tones look better in softer shades such as browns, creams and golden metallics. Also, decide whether your skin is fair, rosy, deep, dark or olive. Choose a foundation using this information. Keep in mind that foundations for warm skin tones have a slight yellow hue, while foundations for cool skin tones have blue or pink undertones.


• Apply the foundation to your face and check to see how it looks in direct sunlight. If it is the right color and properly blended it should look natural. If you can see a difference in color between your face and neck, you need a different color.


• Use a translucent powder to set it if your foundation provides a smooth color. If you use powder to both set your foundation and add color, choose one the same way you would foundation.  Loose powder is a better choice than pressed powder because it does not streak or leave clumps.


• Blush should be chosen the same way as foundation and powder, skin type, condition and tone. Pinks and tans work best with fair and rosy skin coloring, peaches and corals with deep skin tones, plums and bronzes for dark skin coloring, and coppers and warm browns for olive colored skin.


• For eyeshadow, creams, bronzes, soft greens and browns generally work best with warm skin tones and silvers, grays, pale blues, dark greens and purples work best with cool skin tones.


• When choosing lipstick, ones that have pink, orange, red or pale purple as the primary color look best on fair skin, while rosy skin looks best with mostly pink and red lipsticks, dark skin looks best with roses and purples, and very pale pink works best with olive skin tones.